Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Please don't post about US Politics.
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected].
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
view the rest of the comments
Ideally, you set aside 3 to 6 months worth of your typical monthly spending to cover (some) emergencies and job loss, then invest everything else. 401(k) is still tax advantaged in the same way as an IRA, and you can typically do roth contributions to a 401(k) too. So there are benefits to going above your employer match.
But, you're right that you don't want to trap all of your money into a retirement account either. You'll probably want to make large purchases like a car or house. In that case, you plan out a timeline and invest in less risky things depending on how far out you plan to purchase said thing.
The overall idea of "invest in index funds as much as possible" can be applied generally, but the amount that you contribute and in which types of accounts heavily depends on the individual.
I just wanted to point out that 401(k)s without employer matching are basically just IRAs with high yearly caps because it took me a few years to realize that, and I fancied myself financially literate. It can be a good idea to contribute more, so long as you don't need the money elsewhere.